Rex Administration - implications for Virgin Australia

[eastwest101]

There is a rebooking form on the VA website.

Also noteworthy, which may be more relevant as a whole to this new thread

Virgin Australia announces support for Rex customers and people

Attributable to Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka:

newsroom.virginaustralia.com

Recognising the importance for regional Australians to have access to a comprehensive domestic and international network, Virgin Australia also intends to partner with Rex’s regional business to enable seamless access to Virgin Australia’s domestic and international destinations through potential codeshare or interline arrangements in the future.

Incredible that it has taken Covid and two sets of administrators over 4+ years and only on the second Rex administration that the management of Rex and Virgin have got over their own ego's and tried to co-operate now that Rex is at deaths door, and I assume the Fed Government had told them to get their cough together and work constructively.

Pretty much everyone in the nation and the industry recognized the obvious synergies years ago, except for the various managements of both airlines!

 

[antycbr]

Incredible that it has taken Covid and two sets of administrators over 4+ years and only on the second Rex administration that the management of Rex and Virgin have got over their own ego's and tried to co-operate now that Rex is at deaths door, and I assume the Fed Government had told them to get their cough together and work constructively.

Pretty much everyone in the nation and the industry recognized the obvious synergies years ago, except for the various managements of both airlines!

I think John Borghetti’s foray into the ATR didn’t help things…

Actually it hurt VA even more than it probably hurt Rex.

 

[HS-TQE]

IIRC, didn't the ZL / DJ (as they were known then) fallout occur back in the days when DJ started to use Alliance for some flying instead of feeding to/from ZL?

 

[henrus]

It could be back, from the statement released by EY this evening:

"Rex and Virgin Australia are also exploring opportunities to support regional customers, which include Virgin Australia selling Rex’s regional services through codeshare or interline arrangements, and making Velocity Frequent Flyer benefits available to Rex’s regional customers."

 

[Big John]

VA also looking to take over the leases of three 737 aircraft.

Anyone know if these 3 aircraft were originally operated by VA ?

If so, Rex paid someone to change the interior from VA to Rex. VA then pays someone (probably the same people) to change the interior from Rex back to VA.

Nice job if you can get it !

 

[HS-TQE]

Anyone know if these 3 aircraft were originally operated by VA ?

If so, Rex paid someone to change the interior from VA to Rex. VA then pays someone (probably the same people) to change the interior from Rex back to VA.

Nice job if you can get it !

Rumoured to be the the ex-MI/SQ 737s and 1 of the ex-VA1.0 aircraft. VA were also rumoured to pick up more ex-SQ aircraft once the leases finishes up with SQ.

They'll be refitting the ex-SQ aircraft (if they're coming from REX) into VA livery and new VA seats/interior eventually, whereas the sole ex-VA1.0 will need to be reupholstered away from REX colours/branding in the interim (That would also need to be eventually reconfigured into the new VA seats/config).

 

[Must...Fly!]

Nice job if you can get it !

Even better if you actually get paid for it...

 

[Harrison_133]

Rumoured to be the the ex-MI/SQ 737s and 1 of the ex-VA1.0 aircraft. VA were also rumoured to pick up more ex-SQ aircraft once the leases finishes up with SQ.

They'll be refitting the ex-SQ aircraft (if they're coming from REX) into VA livery and new VA seats/interior eventually, whereas the sole ex-VA1.0 will need to be reupholstered away from REX colours/branding in the interim (That would also need to be eventually reconfigured into the new VA seats/config).

The three aircraft have not been identified yet so I think it's a bit premature to say it's the ex-SQ aircraft, noting that they are both with different leasing companies so they won't necessarily come as a pair. I just can't see VA taking aircraft from 3 different leasing companies this quickly.

It's entirely possible it could be some the ex-VA aircraft, specifically PAG/REX/RQP which are relatively young compared to the other ex-VA aircraft (2010 builds). These three would also come from the same leasing company which actually has a pre-existing relationship with Virgin.

If so, Rex paid someone to change the interior from VA to Rex. VA then pays someone (probably the same people) to change the interior from Rex back to VA.

VA wouldn't have much to change! All Rex did was replace the Economy X headrests and the Virgin logo embossed on the J seats. Everything else stayed the same.

 

[Dmac59]

The three aircraft have not been identified yet so I think it's a bit premature to say it's the ex-SQ aircraft, noting that they are both with different leasing companies so they won't necessarily come as a pair. I just can't see VA taking aircraft from 3 different leasing companies this quickly.

It's entirely possible it could be some the ex-VA aircraft, specifically PAG/REX/RQP which are relatively young compared to the other ex-VA aircraft (2010 builds). These three would also come from the same leasing company which actually has a pre-existing relationship with Virgin.

VA wouldn't have much to change! All Rex did was replace the Economy X headrests and the Virgin logo embossed on the J seats. Everything else stayed the same.

Precisely. Just a fresh paint job on the metal, or is the badging some sort of stick on decals?

 

[Bundy Bear]

No Rex intercity, No bonza, no Japan Virgin mk2 should be able to make some serious cash. Hopefully they can then get their schedule on track.

 

[HS-TQE]

No Rex intercity, No bonza, no Japan Virgin mk2 should be able to make some serious cash. Hopefully they can then get their schedule on track.

Bonza wasn't competing with VA 2.0 with the exception of OOL/MCY to MEL. AB were largely a sideshow distraction for VA to worry much about.

 

[ben95]

I love the days when VA would price captial cities $5 below Rex pretty consistently. VA flyers are sure to see fare edge closer to QF levels now. A sad day for everyone indeed.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I love the days when VA would price captial cities $5 below Rex pretty consistently. VA flyers are sure to see fare edge closer to QF levels now. A sad day for everyone indeed.

I don't think it'll be that bad, but yes there's no doubt things won't be as cheap.
On the flip side they may be more sustainable. We will probably still see a downward trend in fares, just because Rex isn't there doesn't make the broader economy any better.

 

[Axe_L_Thief]

Had Virgin and Rex been in discussions for some time to codeshare, include in Velocity? The Virgin announcement (both its speed and scope) suggests there had been discussions for some time, Coupled with the administrator's decision to only suspend jet services, it makes me think they had been in discussions with VA2.0 to do exactly that.

 

[henrus]

Had Virgin and Rex been in discussions for some time to codeshare, include in Velocity? The Virgin announcement (both its speed and scope) suggests there had been discussions for some time

I disagree, as recently as last week Rex was hiring for 737 roles. It'll all come out in the administrators report but I suspect the cash just dried up. VA didn't appear to get a huge amount of notice but teams would have started looking as soon as the first Australian report came out.

 

[RooFlyer]

VA didn't appear to get a huge amount of notice but teams would have started looking as soon as the first Australian report came out.

Bain's investment bankers Goldman Sachs, UBS and Barrenjoey Capital you'd hope would have been aware of, or deeply suspected Rex's issues long before they became public and had scenarios 'ready to go' when needed.

 

[Must...Fly!]

In reality Rex were going to continue running 737s only as long as PAG were happy to tip in more capital. I imagine people talk in investment banking/PE industries just as they talk in every other one.

 

[HS-TQE]

There has been unconfirmed reports over on the YSSY board that VH-PAG got repo'd whilst in maintenance due to unpaid bills.

 

[kallinch]

From friend at VA - VA had been talks for past week or so on how to support etc. also re: taking Rex booking over VA will ask airports to waive their movement charges for those pax that do take up VA offer.

Generally the offer is done out of goodwill. There was slight suggestion it’s prompted by government.

 

[philelltt]

We have just arrived in Sydney using a Virgin flight. I had Rex tickets. It took forever to get through on the Virgin customer care line and the line kept dropping out as the agent was making a booking, so I had to phone many times. As a backstop in case it didn't work out, I also booked Jetstar max plus bundle flights. I could cancel them at the last minute when Virgin sent me the tickets. I was allowed to choose the flights. There was zero to pay. On the Virgin invoice it shows $1500 for our 2 return tickets. I had bought Rex sale price economy tickets. At the airport, everyone was as nice as pie. The flight was full. I read a news article where the CEO of virgin reckons only about one third of affected customers have applied for the Virgin offer.